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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29417691">What's Wrong With Being a Coward?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/catgrump/pseuds/catgrump'>catgrump</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, idk this one's wholesome, non-despair junko is here, taka is here, they have brief lines</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29417691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/catgrump/pseuds/catgrump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Byakuya was never a fan of Valentine’s Day at Hope’s Peak.  This year was no exception.  Fic written for the Danganronpa Valentine’s Day Exchange on tumblr for user gravestone-monarch!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>93</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What's Wrong With Being a Coward?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I hope everyone had a spectacular day today!"</p><p><em>Come on, Taka</em>, I thought with a scowl, <em>The day is almost over; can you give it a rest?</em></p><p>Today was already long enough. Valentine's Day is one of the most insufferable days in the school year. I had to somehow tolerate childish, sickeningly sweet sap from my classmates who were coupled up all day, where their relationship statuses were more present than normal.</p><p>Thankfully it was the last class of the day, as well as the last class of the week. All that was left was Taka handing out the ridiculous 'Candy-Grams' in the cardboard box he so triumphantly held in his arms, and then we can go back to our dorms for the weekend, and life can go on, so everyone can forget about this ludicrous 'holiday' for the rest of the year.</p><p>"Thank you all very much for participating in this year's Candy-Gram fundraiser!" Taka continued bombastically, "The Student Council greatly appreciates all your support, and looks forward to using your contributions for enriching our school experience."</p><p>"Just hand them out already!" Junko heckled from the back of the classroom</p><p>"Y-yes, I'll do that!" Taka was clearly embarrassed, but tried to make everyone believe her words didn't sting.</p><p>I took my choice of novel for the week off my desk and continued to read where I left off. I didn't need to watch as our class representative handed out mylar bags of candy with frivolous notes attached to them. It doesn't matter to me who's friendship was worth a small amount of money, or if anyone had any secret admirers. I could figure it all out with context clues, anyway. The girls received far more than the boys did, since they express affection more openly. Junko, Sayaka, Chihiro, and Aoi seemed to grow tired of receiving countless presents from admirers each year, so I assumed this year would be no exception. Leon would typically get a handful of anonymous notes as well. Everyone else would get a small amount of trivial tokens of affection from whatever friends, or their partner if they had one... everyone but me. It's not like it matters, but I can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy from being excluded. I'm plenty desirable. It baffles me that I never receive any notice from anyone that they're interested... excluding the... overwhelming amount I received from Toko in our first year. She quickly learned not to try that again.</p><p>Amidst the chatter of my classmates, a pink and red bag crinkled as it landed on top of my desk. I furrowed my brow, but quickly changed my focus as I felt a hand firmly pat me on the back. <em>The audacity</em>—</p><p>"Well it looks like someone likes you, Togami!" Taka said with too much cheer</p><p>"Shut up," I ordered as Taka laughed and walked off</p><p>Quickly looking around and deciding everyone was distracted enough, I snatched the bag off my desk and ripped the note off the cheap party-supply-store ribbon.</p><p>'I know you don't normally eat this stuff, but... you can be sweet when you want to be ❤️'</p><p>No signature. An anonymous piece of fluff. I crumpled the note in my hand. Is this some kind of joke? My mind raced with possibilities of what this could be. Who could do this? Who would be so cowardly to pull such an infantile prank on ME of all people? "Byakuya?"</p><p>I hadn't realized my knuckles turned white. Makoto's unnervingly gentle voice brought me back to the reality I didn't know I abandoned. "The bell rang," he continued, "Everyone left. Are you okay?"</p><p>How long was I...? Was I dissociating? I released my grip on the note, relaxing my fingers, watching them to ground myself. "I'm fine."</p><p>"D-did you still wanna go to the bookstore?" He sounded nervous to ask.</p><p>I chuckled and brought myself to look at him. His smile was almost painful. He looked like he was holding back from passing out. "Yes, that's fine," I told him, and I started putting my book into my bag</p><p>"Hey, uh, I think you dropped something," Makoto interjected, bending down toward the floor. He picked up the note I practically destroyed, and gestured to the juvenile bag of candy I left on the desk, "Was th-this the uh, note—?"</p><p>"Don't waste your breath. It's a joke at my expense, nothing more. I bet whoever sent it got quite a laugh," I spat out, not even attempting to hide my disdain</p><p>"A joke?" I could practically hear him start to sweat when he spoke, "Why would you think that?"</p><p>I don't know why he was being so skittish. I sighed, "Read it, if you must know."</p><p>I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, waiting for him to agree with me. Instead, I got "I dunno, Byakuya... maybe someone really does like you?"</p><p>I grimaced at his words. "If someone truly found me attractive and wished to confess, they should have the nerve to tell me to my face, or at least sign their name. This is either a coward or, as I'm going to continue to assume, a prank."</p><p>Scoffing, I turned my head away toward the blackboard. Suddenly, the air in the room felt tense and suffocating. Something shifted, but I couldn't place my finger on what it was. I furrowed my brow thinking about it as the room's silence surrounded us. "Byakuya," I turned my attention back to Makoto when he said my name. He was looking down at his shoes, and his fingers were twitching, "Have you ever... had a crush on someone before?"</p><p>Makoto forced his presence into my life some time ago, and made himself worthy of mine. He never got in my way, and enjoyed intelligent conversation, even though I'm the one guiding the conversation most of the time. He's one of the few people in our class I can tolerate, and the only one I invite to spend time with me outside of class. I suppose this makes us friends. And, as I've read in books and seen in films, friends our age discuss things such as 'crushes'. But watching Makoto struggle to keep still while I contemplated made me realize "No. I don't think I have. Why do you ask?"</p><p>He brought his eyes back to me, and he looked stunned. "R-really?! Not even like, in elementary school?"</p><p>"Throughout my life, I've been able to look at people and think they're attractive, but I can't recall anything deeper than that."</p><p>And with sudden confidence, he said "Then you don't know what it's like!"</p><p>"I don't know what what's like?" I replied, bluntly</p><p>"You don't know what it's like to think about someone all the time and pray you get to spend time with them. You don't know what it's like to worry about whether they could potentially like you back someday, or see you as more than a friend. You don't know what it's like to avoid eye contact with someone because you're scared they can read your mind and know you're thinking about what it would be like to kiss them; I worry about that EVERY DAY. You don't think of the possibility that the little note tied around a stupid bag of candy may be m— someone genuinely trying to confess but they're scared of rejection. Is there something wrong with being a coward when the stakes are so high?"</p><p>He was panting. He spewed all of those words without taking a breath. But something bothered me about what he just said. "What was that part in the middle that you said?"</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"The part about reading minds."</p><p>"Honestly everything I just said is kind of a blur—"</p><p>"You said you worry about that every day. Who makes you worry about that?" He spends time with everyone in our class; the possibilities seemed endless.</p><p>Makoto's shoulders slumped back down and his mouth hung open ever so slightly. He was looking at me like I was an idiot. I'd be offended if it wasn't him giving me this look. Why is that? If anyone else looked at me that way, I'd want to spit in their face and tell them off. But when Makoto looks at me like that, it made me... lightheaded. I felt like I needed to hold back so I wouldn't pass out. What's happening to me?</p><p>We were staring at each other for far too long. With every tick of the classroom clock's second hand, it felt like an hour had gone past instead. But for some reason, we couldn't take our eyes off each other. I watched as his chest moved up and down with his deep breaths. Mine were difficult to control, as well. More than ever, I could feel how close he was to me. I sensed the minuscule movements he made as he seemed to close a gap between us.</p><p>And then he answered both of my questions— the one I asked audibly, and the one I kept to myself. His hands grabbed the sides of my face, my eyes widened and his shut as he pulled me toward him, kissing me with force. Who does he worry about? That became obvious. What's happening to me? I realized the answer to that as I settled from my shock, trepidatiously settled my hands onto his waist, closed my eyes, and kissed back. He relaxed once he felt my reciprocation and I felt... at ease. It took me this long to realize why I let Makoto spend time with me.</p><p>His hands left my face and reached behind my neck, bringing him even closer, and making me wrap my hands around the small of his back. I think I can take back my statement about 'never feeling something deeper than attraction'. I finally understood how Makoto makes me feel. This was what we had wanted, but he was too afraid to speak up, and I, for once, couldn't look past my base thoughts and ideas of what someone could be to see that I felt the same way.</p><p>I could feel him smiling as he left gentle, lingering kisses before we parted. He laughed, still holding on to me. His laugh has always made me smile, hasn't it? "So, uh... do you still wanna go to the bookstore?" He asked with a sheepish grin</p><p>"It's a date."</p>
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